David Cameron accused of failing stay-at-home mothers

David Cameron has been accused of failing stay-at-home mothers by Britain’s
Chief Rabbi.

David Cameron has been accused of penalising stay-at-home mothers.Photo: ALAMY

By Claire Carter

12:01AM BST 19 Aug 2013

Lord Sacks said the Government has failed to encourage marriage following moves to exclude families, where one parent stays at home, from a £1billion scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare.

He said stay-at-home mothers should be given more support with the cost of looking after their children as more than a million families are set to be left out of the scheme if one parent stays at home full time. Households earning up to £300,000 a year where both parents work will be given vouchers of up to £1,200 a year.

He told The Times: "[The Government] should certainly recognise marriage in the tax system. It should certainly give more support to mothers who stay at home or for child care provision."

Lord Sacks said he felt the measures did not do enough to encourage marriage. He added: "The State has an interest in marriage because the cost of family breakdown and non-marriage, the last time I looked at it, was estimated at £9 billion a year."

His comments come after a number of people - including Conservative MPs - criticised the scheme unveiled by George Osborne, the Chancellor. They labelled the plans an "insult" to single-earner families. Mr Osborne said he thought bringing up a child full time was a "lifestyle choice."

The scheme will be introduced for children under five by 2015 and extended to cover all those under 12 by 2020, under current plans.

Lord Sacks, who is due to step down after 22 years in the post, also said he thought the concept of multiculturalism – where different cultures live alongside each other but don’t integrate – "must be abandoned" because it has "had its day". He said by allowing ethnic groups to keep to themselves this had increased segregation.